Air France crash maybe caused by weather-linked technical failure: expert

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PARIS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A French expert said on Tuesday that the missing of Air France Flight 447, believed to have crashed, was most likely the result of a technical failure caused by bad weather.

Pierre Sparaco, a member of the French Air and Space Academy, said an accident was more likely to occur when the aircraft was taking off or landing, compared with the period of cruise aviation.

The disappearance of the Airbus A330 during its cruise aviation should rule out the possibility of man-made factors that caused few accidents during this period of flying, Pierre said.

According to the limited information available up to now, the incident was most probably caused by a technical failure, which maybe be closely connected with the bad weather, the expert added.

Commenting on the aircraft's lightning equipment, Pierre said the Airbus A330 has a high capability of avoiding lightning as it has a metal body.

Even an aircraft was hit by lightning and lost its power, the emergency turbo engine could generate enough electricity to maintain the basic operation of the plane, he said.

Brazil on Tuesday confirmed the debris found earlier on the open Atlantic Ocean belonged to Air France Flight 447, solidifying the crash of the jet that went missing early Monday.

Flight 447, an Airbus 330-200 bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT). It was expected in Paris on Monday at 11:15 a.m. (0915 GMT).

With all 228 on board feared dead, it could be the world's worst aviation disaster since 2001.

The cause of the disaster remains a mystery. Air France said it could have been hit by lightning. Other potential causes include violently shifting winds and hail from thunderheads, and the area in the Atlantic Ocean where the plane is suspected to be down, used to be called by sailors as The Doldrums, where a calm can quickly become a violent storm.